Shocking statistics have revealed that more people are diagnosed with HIV each year in Britain than in any other western European country. Data released by the charity Unicef showed that in 2007 Britain had over 3,000 more cases reported than the country that came second in the poll, France.
The two groups suffering the most from HIV are the gay community and new immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa. However, immigrants often are blamed for the UK’s high rates of HIV, Unicef have warned that immigration is in fact not at the heart of why there are 77,000 people believed to be living in the UK with the condition. Unicef have said that people aged between 16-24 make up 10% of all new diagnosis and have said that the young need more encouragement to practice safe sex and require better access to STI clinics.
Concern has particularly centred on the fact that many of those carrying the infection are unaware of their HIV-positive status – the Terence Higgins Trust said that one in four cases is undiagnosed. This means not only do they risk passing it on to their sexual partners, but they will not be receiving early anti-viral treatment. Early treatment can dramatically prolong life expectancy and many Westerners diagnosed early can go on live nearly as long as someone without the infection.
Unicef said that young people in the UK, particularly women, were being put off sexual health testing by the long waiting times and difficulties they faced making an appointment at their sexual health clinic. While the NHS has been seeking to combat this through the use of chlamydia and gonorrhoea home testing, HIV testing is better done in person, both because blood samples are usually used and because of the potentially traumatic reaction to a positive result. Charities are therefore advocating new strategies to be developed to make getting tested easier.